


Lydia's List

by TheBadassIsIn



Series: Triple Dog Dare Verse [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Humor, M/M, Mates, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-17
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-20 10:52:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/886406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBadassIsIn/pseuds/TheBadassIsIn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part Two of the Triple Dog Dare verse.<br/>It’s a while before everyone is settled down again, but once the calm sets in it seems to be the cue to get ready for bed. The group still stays in their circle to talk until sunrise but sleeping bags are pulled out, pillows are moved from the couch to the floor and blankets are snuggled into as the talk continues. It's not long before Lydia's list of questions for the werewolves makes a reappearance and Derek finds himself sitting through the torture while Stiles listens cuddled up to his side. Maybe it's not really torture after all.<br/>"Do you go into heat?"<br/>He takes that back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to part two! Thank you all for your amazing reviews and keep them coming :D I have decided to continue this verse and should be updating at least once a week. If anyone has any prompts, questions they might want Lydia to ask, or ideas for the future of this verse, drop me a line. Enjoy ;)

**Lydia’s List**

It’s a while before everyone is settled down again, but once the calm sets in it seems to be the cue to get ready for bed. The group still stays in their circle to talk until sunrise but sleeping bags are pulled out, pillows are moved from the couch to the floor and blankets are snuggled into as the talk continues. When Isaac gets up to change and grab the pillows from his bed, Derek moves into the spot by Stiles’ chair. Stiles doesn’t come back.

He can hear his mate’s heart beating strongly in the kitchen still. He makes small talk with Isaac when the beta goes to get his things and when Isaac returns he hears Stiles head up the steps into the wolf’s loft space and shuffle though something, probably his bag. Isaac goes to sit with Boyd and Scott, not saying a word about the change of seats even when he smiles at Derek. The game seems to thankfully be over, but even with his eyes closed and head resting on the chair behind him, Derek knows Lydia is looking at him. He doesn’t care. He continues to listen to Stiles heart and the little beats changing with whatever is running through his head. After ten minutes, Derek starts to get worried. He’s getting up to investigate when Lydia calls out to him.

“You’re not going to bed are you?” She should know better, he never lets his guard down during full moon lock-ins, especially when the humans stay. He goes to say as much, but then remembers he usually stays on guard alone in his room. He shakes his head.

“Going to check on Stiles.” She makes a face at him, he expected another smirk at the turn of events or that calculating look that’s always lingering in her eyes, but she purses her lips and looks more like she was deciding if she should go with him.

“Maybe just give him another minute.” Derek rolled his eyes and stepped away. He had waited. “Don’t get too distracted, I have some more questions for you.” And there was the smirk. He didn’t even need to turn around to see it. When he got to the kitchen he saw that someone had put the food and drinks away. He could hear Stiles finish brushing his teeth in the upstairs bathroom and head towards the stairs. Derek froze. Maybe he could wait another minute. He headed to his room to get the comforter and pillows off the bed for Stiles instead. His bed was one of the few things in Derek’s life that didn’t hold Stiles scent, suddenly that seemed very wrong. Not that this was what he was thinking. Stiles was probably cold, and everyone looked comfortable with their sleeping bags or blankets and pillows. Stiles should have some too. Derek could think of many better ways to get his bed to smell like his mate.

* * *

When Stiles rejoined the group, he had a lot on his mind. Like Derek. And his lips and his tongue and his teeth, those hands… did he say tongue? How about lips? And then! The bomb he dropped about… he couldn’t even go there. He was not going to think about sex, or kissing, or anything. Not in a room full of what might as well be mind readers. He needed to… he had no idea because his thoughts went blank as soon as he looked around the living room and noticed that Derek wasn’t there. Oh. Okay. This would probably be easier, but what happened?

Stiles made his way back to his chair, now without Isaac to save him if Jackson decided to jump across the small space. Lydia put her hand over his wrist to get his attention and he realized he must have been zoning out. She only had time to give him a frown before Derek was walking back in with an armful of blankets and pillows he proceeded to drop in front of Stiles. “Uh…”

“Everyone else had them, I thought…”

“I was just…” Stiles thumbed in back of him to the rolled up sleeping bag by the door. Derek should recognize it from nights he stayed over the Stilinskis’ in the past. “You know.”

“Right.”

“God, could you maybe complete one of those sentences?” Erica huffed before laughing when they both stammered over more silence.

Derek bent to pick up the blankets again muttering something like ‘never mind’ when Stiles finally snapped out of it and got up. “Thanks, let me.” He straightened out the comforter, one huge fluffy comforter, not multiple blankets, and spread out the pillows before settling down on the floor and looking up at Derek who seemed a bit lost. “You going to sit down?” Derek picked up his half of the blanket and threw it over Stiles before settling back against the pillows. Stiles just rolled his eyes and snuggled into it, not exactly what he was expecting, but at least it wasn’t so awkward anymore. And god he was comfortable! “What the hell is this thing made out of? Baby bunnies? This should be illegal. Derek, what did you do?”

An actual smile hit Derek’s lips as he looked at Stiles with that  _are-you-seriously-that-stupid?_  glare. With the smile attached it actually looked a bit fond. “It was illegal.” He said, smile still on his face as he leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes. He obviously didn’t realize they now had everyone’s attention.

“What?” echoed throughout the room.

“I thought the same thing, so I stole it.” He said with a little shrug like people go around just robbing Donald Trump of what must be his million dollar, perfectly fluffy blanket from the gods.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Derek let out a heavy sigh before picking his head up again to look at Stiles. “I was at a hotel. The blanket was nice. I didn’t have one. Now I do.” Jackson snorted out a laugh. “They probably charged me for it, I didn’t check.” Stiles tried not to laugh, he really did, but the image of Derek just waltzing through some, from the not scratchy and sex stained quality of the blanket,  _fancy_  hotel with his leather Jacket and glare just daring anybody to stop him from leaving with the king sized comforter in his arms was too much.

When Stiles finally composed himself he noticed the little rumbles of laughter in Derek’s chest dying down too. He wasn’t really  _laughing_ , but it was the closest Stiles had ever heard and he found himself amazed by it.

He must have been staring because Scott was clearing his throat, and he could quit that right now for all the pda and wolfie eyes he and Allison exchanged in front of him. Derek heard it too because now his eyes were open and looking to Scott before back at him. Stiles couldn’t help leaning in a little or looking at that ridiculously talented mouth again. He barely got to push the blanket out of the way before Jackson’s pillow smashed into his face and Derek was staring daggers at the cackling jock before throwing it back with a little growl.

“The sun’s almost up.” Allison pointed out as she snuggled down into her sleeping bag. Stiles knew she wouldn’t sleep. She never goes to sleep until all the wolves are out, but the action has some yawning. Not Lydia though.

“Good, while everyone is calm, I have some more questions. Derek, if you don’t mind?” It wasn’t really a question, it was Lydia’s  _you-think-I’m-asking-but-I’m-just-being-polite-do-what-I-say_  tone.

“Do we have to do this now?” Derek ‘asked’ back. Oh no, Derek could do it too! This did not bode well for Stiles’ masculinity. He was always the first to make the whipped noises at Jackson, karma could  _not_  send that back to him.

Besides, Lydia has the trump card here. If he didn’t answer the questions, Stiles was pretty sure she would be at the loft every day until the list was gone. “If you don’t, it will just drag out the process. I want to finish my list.” Yup, called it.

“Your list will never end.” Derek sighed. “The more I answer tonight, the more time you’ll have to come up with questions later.” Derek had a point. Stiles couldn’t help grinning at him for standing his ground in this hopeless situation. Lydia obviously took it as siding with him if the swift kick to his shin was any indication.

“Hey-” Stiles barely got out before a growl shook the room and he looked over to see the alpha’s eyes glowing red.

“Don’t you growl at me Derek Hale! I’m trying to get to know you better and to understand this pack and how to protect it.” Lydia leveled a glare of her own. “Besides, Stiles is made of tougher stuff than my stiletto.”

Stiles put a hand on Derek’s shoulder, not really understanding what set him off. “Derek. Relax. Full moon, right? No big deal. She didn’t even bruise me, she was just making fun. Stop being such a sour wolf.” Derek turned his eyes to meet Stiles’ and they immediately melted back to that soft blue-green. He looked a little confused, maybe ashamed. “Hey, just mate stuff, right?” Stiles was torn between hoping that was the answer and worrying over boundary issues on the over protective front if that was the case. Derek gave a small nod and Stiles felt his heart swell. He wasn’t ever going to get used to the idea that Derek freaking Hale had a mate sized crush on him. “We’ll work it out.” And they would, because even though Derek might have a few anger management issues here and there, he was king of control and would never hurt his friends or pack if he had a choice.

Lydia let it rest for a moment, probably testing the waters of Derek’s control before she continued. Derek looked back at her in a silent apology, because  _Derek_ , that she seemed to accept. “Great, now that that’s settled, what exactly was… that?”

“Well put.” Stiles couldn’t help but throw in. What? Everyone always made fun of his rambles, it was nice to see Lydia a little flustered even if he’s still kind of nervous himself.

“Shu-” Lydia starts before looking at Derek. She elbows Jackson roughly and jerks her head towards them.

“Shut up, Stiles!” Jackson says happily.

* * *

Derek didn’t really know what came over him. One second he was resting his eyes while trying to get Lydia to save her questions for a time when his mind wasn’t so invested in detecting every layer of Stiles’ scent and leaning into the warmth against his side, radiating off his mate right through the stolen comforter. The next, Stiles’ heart had jumped and he hissed in pain, the nearest culprit being the pointed shoe on the foot Lydia was tucking back behind her other ankle. His wolf vaulted straight to the surface, fangs bared. He hardly had enough time to rein back his claws as he let out a growl at the offender. He was trying to focus, trying to tell himself Lydia was a friend, pack, she was playing, but all that would circle through his mind was a loop of  _she hurt your mate she hurt your mate she hurt your mate._

Lydia was yelling at him and that wasn’t helping. He was the alpha. No one told him what to do, pack or otherwise. And then a warm hand was on his shoulder, the heat spreading down his arm and melting the rage away. He heard Stiles’ voice. He was fine. It was fine.

Where did that come from? How did he let that happen? Where had his years of control gone? His wolf backed off unhappily but curled up in Stiles warmth. He let his mate handle the talking for a bit while he tried to center himself again.

He could sense Stiles’ worry even through his frustration with whatever they were talking about and finally decided a distraction might help. “What question’s next Lydia?” Stiles snuggling down into the blanket and leaning against him again was more than worth any pain and aggravation Lydia’s questions might bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter edited on 11 January 2014.   
> Please bring any mistakes we missed to the comment box or thebadassisin.tumblr.com/ask  
> Thank you - WT


	2. Chapter 2

Derek waited patiently as Lydia looked over her list, seemingly deciding what topic to pick up first. She had taken quick notes while they played truth or dare earlier, but had been writing most of the evening, probably filling in little details or coming up with more questions, so it surprised Derek when she leveled another glare at him, pursed her lips and put the notebook aside.

“Don’t think you’re getting off easy. It seems another line of questioning concerning recent events might be in order.” Derek furrowed his brow but nodded none the less. He wasn’t sure how much information he could lend on this subject, having just figured it out for himself and still being confused and worried as to his actions in the last few hours. “How is being your mate going to affect Stiles? Is it typical for werewolves to mate with humans or is this going to be dangerous for him?”

Stiles straightened up next to him, apparently more invested since he was the topic. “Affe… affect me?” His heart beat picked up and Derek draped an arm over his shoulders, hoping the touch would have the same calming effect on his mate as it had on him moments before.

“There are probably some differences between wolves and human mates that we’re going to have to look into, but from what I’ve seen we become more aware of each other and-”

“What do you mean?” Stiles was asking, and Derek couldn’t help moving all of his attention to him.

“I think it’s already been happening. I haven’t scared you when I come to your house in months-” Derek is cut off by Stiles laughing.

“Come to my house! You mean crawl in through my window at 3am or hide in the shadows until I turn on a light and have a heart attack!”

“But that’s what I mean. You haven’t been turning on the lights. You just start talking.” Stiles stared at him as he spoke and for a minute Derek forgot they had an audience. “I have been more aware of your scent and just knowing where you would be for a while now.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I thought I was going crazy. You were driving me crazy. I couldn’t do anything without thinking about you.”

“Do I still drive you crazy?” Stiles said with a grin that lit up his eyes. He was reading into what Derek was saying, but the alpha didn’t mind because after that kiss, it was so true.

Derek pressed their foreheads together and returned the smile, though he knew his was a bit more predatory by the way Stiles throat clicked when he swallowed. “I think you’re going to be driving me crazy for the rest of my life.”

Scott was barking out a laugh across the room, “Who knew you could be so cheesy Derek!” Scott teased, but Stiles eyes were still locked with his and he couldn’t turn away.

“I like cheesy. Cheesy makes everything better.” Stiles brushed their noses together. He wanted to close the distance between them, that static electricity pulling him in and he knew once they touched there would be that spark again. But Lydia was speaking and Stiles was pulling back.

“This is all very touching, but I think we need to finish going over the details before you two maul each other again. There has to be more side effects. Look at your reactions tonight. What are we going to do about that? What is going to set you off and how do we handle it?”

Derek looked between Stiles and Lydia for a moment, before he pulled back too, putting the arm around Stiles back into his lap again as he thought about his control tonight. “I don’t know.”

“You  _don’t know?”_

“I don’t… It’s more than the full moon. It just feels territorial. Instinct. Biology. I don’t know. I think we’re all going to have to just tread carefully until we figure it out. I have control. Something inside me just snaps when he’s hurting or panicking. I don’t think I could have hurt you or anyone else, but until I’m sure I can handle it, I don’t really want to test that out.”

“Fine. But how are you going to regain that control? How long do we have to walk on eggshells around the big bad alpha? Oh, and Stiles - He’s not your territory.”

Allison was pitching in too, neither giving him a chance to respond, “Does he even have a say in any of this, or are you going to command him like another beta?”

Stiles tensed next to him again, and Derek clamped a hand around his arm unthinkingly. Lydia noticed the movement and raised her brow as if to say ‘ _I just said that wasn’t going to fly’_.

Derek felt is hackles rise at the onslaught of questions and the accusation in their eyes. He took a deep breath. “One question at a time please.” He was able to pull his hand back, but he moved it to rest between them, still soaking in Stiles’ warmth as he tried to answer their worries. “Stiles is not my property but you are all my territory.” Lydia huffed and opened her mouth to talk but he just kept going over her, “We are all each other’s territory. We are pack. Family. We stand up for and protect each other. That’s all I meant.” Lydia settled back into her seat, looking ready to listen again so he continued. “Stiles does have a choice. I would never make him do anything he didn’t want to do, but he is it for me. Now that I know, he’s all I would ever want and if he decides to move on I will fight for him to stay but not against his happiness. He can do whatever he wants, he probably has more control over me than I do myself right now. As far as-“

“Woah woah woah, I have control over you?” Derek felt both Stiles hands grip his shoulders as his mate’s eyes darted to his again. He couldn’t help the slow smile that spread across his face at Stiles’ confusion and the feeling of his wolf’s frustration with Lydia and Allison melting away again.

“Yes.” He said hesitently. Stiles brows shot up and he chuckled for a moment before Derek continued. “I’m still the alpha of this pack, but we are equals in it now. The pack will look to you to lead when I’m not there and will feel compelled to follow direct orders from you and I…” This was the important part and Stiles was suddenly more interested in giving Jackson the most evil smile he had ever seen, “Stiles, don’t abuse the privilege.” Stiles looked like he was trying to put on a guilty face under his excitement. Derek lowered his voice. “You’re  _my_  alpha now. I’m not just going to want to protect you, I’m going to want to do anything you ask me to, anything that will make you happy and I don’t know why I’m telling you this because I know I’m going to regret it but you’re smart. You would have figured it out anyway.”

Stiles has that stunned look again so Derek decides to let the bomb he just dropped lay and continue with Lydia’s vetting. “You should never have to feel like you need to walk on egg shells around me.” Erica, Boyd, Scott and Jackson all let out eerily similar huffs of laughter. Derek whipped his head to glare at them and saw Isaac looking down. “I know I have a few anger management issues but you should never feel afraid of me unless you have done something to harm the safety of the pack. The next few days are probably going to be rough but after that, having a mate present is always a source of calm for the alpha and pack members. Stiles and I should be able to hone in on each other’s emotions. With two wolves, this helps maintain control and stability. I don’t know how this will differ with a human, but I’m sure it will work itself out soon. Until then I think we’re going to be focusing on more control tactics during training sessions again.”

“What type of control tactics?” Lydia is asking, bringing his attention back from the betas. “I’d like to know in case Jackson has an issue.” Jackson raises a brow at her but is ignored as Lydia picks up her notebook again and clicks her pen, wide eyes blinking at him.

“Everyone has an anchor they’ve developed. Mine just shifted. It could be why my control is having a delayed reaction when I go to reach for it, because I’m still reaching for my old one out of habit. I think it would be a good idea for us to try developing a secondary anchor to have in place.”

Stiles elbow is poking into his ribs through the bed spread, “What was your anchor?” Derek just shakes his head. He doesn’t want to bring up his family now. Especially when he can’t fall back on the memory to control his emotions anymore.

“Later.” He says against Stiles’ ear before pressing a kiss to his temple. He can tell his mate is disappointed but he can’t think about that right now.

* * *

Stiles listens to the volley of questions and Derek’s answers as best he can without interrupting. He hears Derek talk about how they’re going to be connected, how they are going to sense where the other is and feel each other’s emotions.

It sounds incredible and powerful and typically Stiles would be jumping around full of energy and asking his own questions right now but Derek is also talking about instinct and biology and he can’t help the little seed of self-deprecation he carries around under his bravado bloom into full on doubt.

Is that all this is? Does Derek not have a choice because for some reason his  _inner wolf_ sensed Stiles would be the best person to balance him out and released a ton of endorphins or whatever? Did Derek even really like him, or was this just some werewolf spell?

He obviously still had trust issues if he wouldn’t open up to Stiles about his anchor. And sure, maybe he was overreacting because Derek did say later but isn’t everything always later with Derek? And then later never really comes because of monsters or hunters or god only knows what else. And didn’t he just finish saying he wouldn’t be able to deny Stiles what he wanted, that Stiles was  _his alpha?_  Which was a power tip and way too much responsibility in itself, but still. Couldn’t he feel Stiles’ disappointment? Wouldn’t that make him want, hell  _need,_  to open up? He bet the betas knew what Derek’s anchor was. Stiles pulled the bed spread of heaven tighter around him and shifted against the pillows. He tried not to notice when Derek shifted too so their sides stayed touching.

Allison was talking again so Stiles tried to focus. He was surprised Lydia was letting her have the floor, but when he looked over at the girl, she was still taking notes and questioning Jackson about his anchor. Jackson looked like he was holding back tears as he buried his face into Lydia’s hair. Stiles would take the opportunity to poke fun if he wasn’t almost positive it was about his parents.

“Where do you draw the line between Jekyll and Hyde? Do you feel like two different people when you change and are there personality traits or something we should look out for in the next few days?” Stiles was surprised to hear Scott jump on the question instead of Derek.

“It’s not like that. It’s not two different personalities, we’re not crazy,” Scott was saying, looking at Allison a little desperate that she understand. Stiles felt for the guy, he was so wrapped up in not being a monster. Allison probably didn’t mean to call him crazy but it must have hurt more coming from her. “It’s just like this force inside you that claws its way up and out and brings all of your emotions with it. Like an animal, but it’s still me.”

“Like the Hulk.” Stiles said without really thinking. It was a better analogy than Dr Jekyll , Mr Hyde if you asked him. “Same person, more strength, emotion based change.”

“Yeah.” Derek said. Stiles looked back at him and that was a mistake. He was supposed to be mad that Derek wasn’t telling him everything, that he might not actually feel about Stiles the way Stiles feels about him without all the werewolf biology stuff. He’s not supposed to be drooling over his stupidly attractive face. Mayday, mayday! Humor! Put up that defense.

“That makes me Tony Stark.” He tore his eyes away from Derek’s to look back to his pining best friend. “That makes us science bros dude.”

Lydia rejoined the discussion with an amused hum, “I’m Tony Stark.”

This was exactly what Stiles needed, a little change of subject to get some of the pressure off, but he still gaped at Lydia. “No no no. You’re Pepper Potts my pretty strawberry blonde!”

“I don’t think so. Not only are you  _not_ a billionaire playboy, but I’m the brilliant mathematician who is far more likely to come up with the first design for a functioning flight suit and arc reactor. You can be my assistant.”

Jackson was laughing again and Stiles would be mad if his eyes weren’t still a little watery from tears he was sure weren’t from the giggle fit. “How’s that burn Stilinski? Oh, but I’m going to have to disagree. You’re not pretty enough to be Pepper. You’re Coulson. Little fanboy who gets in over his head with no super powers to save him.” Stiles barely has time to let the truth of that sink in before Derek is leaning forward and whispering dangerously.

“That’s enough.” His hand finds Stiles’ and Stiles can’t be mad anymore. They would talk later. He’d make sure of it, but he can’t believe that Derek doesn’t care way  _way_ deep down under what might be tons of werewolfie endorphins.

“So let’s talk meal plan. Can you be a vegetarian or will it affect your wolf side?”

Jackson scoffs. “What is this, werewolf wiki or Seventeen? I’m not trying your vegan crap!”

“Then you don’t get to have my vegan  _anything._  Unless Derek says it will affect you physically. Derek?”

Stiles couldn’t help laughing at the pleading look Jackson threw his alpha’s way.

“I’ve never tried it. As long as you keep up your calorie intake I don’t think it would be a problem. But if it starts to affect your mood or if you have trouble focusing you need to stop. Eliminating meat might help control blood lust or it might make it worse. I don’t know.”

Jackson looked smug as he leaned back into the couch. “Better safe than sorry, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know, I think we should experiment. Maybe cut out just red meat first.” Lydia pat his leg as she took notes. “Okay…next.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There should be one more chapter for this section of Triple Dog Dare. Next time will be much more funny (the serious got away from me a bit here, sry) and then I will be taking prompts to continue. I have at least 3 more sections in mine, but ideas are always welcome :)
> 
> -
> 
> chapter edited on 11 January 2014.   
> Please bring any mistakes we missed to the comment box or thebadassisin.tumblr.com/ask  
> Thank you - WT


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a couple hours late, hope the length makes up for it :)

Derek scooted further onto the floor, bringing his pillows with him. Some of the betas were starting to snooze as the sun rose and Lydia’s questions continued on. There were some that stayed serious that he answered as best he could, some scientific that when paired with Lydia’s inquisitive smirk made him feel uncomfortable and even some that were funny and had energy flowing back through the room. She seemed to time those whenever Isaac’s head started to droop so the laughter would snap him back awake and he would be begging Scott to tell him what was so funny.

And then there were questions that just made him want to roll over and go to sleep, like right now:

“Can you tell what makes up my perfume?

“Lydia, seriously? It’s 6am and we haven’t been to bed yet. Can the Channel no.5 breakdown wait until later?” Stiles snapped, bundling down into the bedspread and throwing the cover over his head. Derek wasn’t going to say anything, but it was kind of cute. Especially when a hand reached out and stole another one of his pillows.

“What? I want to know how sensitive your noses are. I know you can pick up scents but statistically speaking, wolves have a poor sense of smell compared to other canines. I want to know if your sense of smell is only slightly heightened, like a wolf or if intense olfactory perception is a werewolf thing.”

Derek sighed and leaned back on the one pillow he was left with, folding his hands over his stomach as he thought. “I’ve never tried to compare my sense of smell with a dog Lydia, I don’t know. Maybe ask Jackson later to compare his human senses to what he feels now. ” No one else seemed willing to jump on the question and Jackson was currently asleep with his face buried in Lydia’s hair. You fall asleep first, you get stuck with Lydia’s inquisition. “I can’t really compare because I’ve never been human” Lydia hummed at that before continuing.

“Well along the same lines, do certain scents bother you more than others? Like after a run, do we smell dirty? And does perfume just smell like chemicals to you or is it still nice?” Derek shrugged where he was lying down, staring at the patterns in the scroll ceiling. It wasn’t really about the top layers but the base scent. People typically smelled the same all the time with hints of extras when they changed shampoo or used perfume. Sweat wasn’t necessarily bad, it was just made the scent more intense. He was about to answer when Lydia spoke up again, “Do you scent us?”

The blanket slid off Stiles as he slowly sat up, “What?”

“You know. Rub their scent on us so we smell like their pack.”

Stiles looked around the room at the betas all suddenly occupied with trying to fall asleep or, in Erica’s case, primping her pillows. “Scott?” Stiles was asking. Derek was a little nervous at his sudden interest. Why was everyone so embarrassed? This was one of the things about human teenagers that he just couldn’t understand. Maybe it’s because he never had a weaker sense of smell. If you can’t smell someone else on you, why would it matter? And for those who can, it feels like home, like pack, like belonging. It’s supposed to be nice. “Scott, seriously? Isn’t that a little… weird?”

“It’s not like I’m peeing on you or anything!”

“Thanks for that, by the way. But what are you doing? How does this work?”

“It’s just like extra hugs and stuff…” Scott started. Derek was thinking about his way of shoving Stiles around and his mate seemed to read his mind.

“Or Erica leaning over me in class to “ _copy my notes_ ” or Jackson friggin’ throwing me around the lacrosse field. And you!” Stiles was leveling and angry finger at his face “pushing me against the hard surface of the day! Do I even want to know what Boyd and Isaac do?” Isaac for his part looked like he finally fell asleep, but Boyd looked down as he mumbled something about leaving school books in Stiles room. “Great. Werewolf hugs, aka being shoved into walls and having my friends break into my house.” He threw the covers back over his head and snuggled into the floor again. Derek tried to move closer but just got a kick to the leg for his trouble.

“Okay.” Lydia said, brows raised at the sudden exchange while she took notes. Derek cleared his throat.

“It’s not really about things smelling bad or good or like ourselves. It’s just supposed to smell like family.” He shrugged again and tried not to smile when Stiles shuffled closer.

“I don’t mind.” Allison said from her huddle of blankets while she not so subtlety took Scotts hand. Lydia scribbled some more notes before she was shaking Jackson off her shoulder.

“Jackson, I swear to god, if that was drool I might kill you.” For his part Jackson just settled back onto the couch while Scott giggles and Isaac wakes with that puppy look at missing another joke. “Okay, next. What is your Alpha form and why haven’t we seen it yet?”

“Oh god!” Scott was whining, “It’s not like Peter’s is it?” All the betas seem to be full of energy again as they look at him expecting him to shift on the spot.

Even Jackson sits up to mumble, “Ugh I hope not. That was horrible.” Stiles sacrifices one of his pillows to throw at Jackson’s face.

Derek sighs. He was waiting for something like this. His form was respected and rare but it was still strange and he would have rather showed Stiles while they were alone, or better yet, kept it hidden all together. “No, Peter was my father’s brother, he took on the Hale form. I have the same shape as my mother and Laura.”

He was hoping that would be enough but Stiles was shoving his shoulder and saying “No way!” at the same time Scott looked up and shouted “Dude!” The rest of the group looked around at the three of them, Lydia chomping at the bit for information while Jackson sneered, probably thinking they were making fun of him for having his mother’s form instead of his fathers. He was right,

“Ha! That’s because you’re a gir-” whatever he was going to say was cut off with a wince when Derek glared his worst at him “reat and powerful leader. Christ.”

“Well… what is it?” Isaac asked, sitting up and fully alert. “Why do you guys know?”

“We might have been the ones who found Laura’s body and called the cops on Derek a while back.” Stiles said, scratching the back of his head and looking at Derek with a guilty smile. “But I just thought – you know the whole wolfsbane spiral thing – I never thought…” Derek sighed again and got up to go to his room. He couldn’t just poof and change, and as much as the shift felt like a good stretch after a rough day, he knew from seeing Laura and his mother that it could be bizarre to watch. “Where are you going?” Stiles shouted after him a little too high.

“I’m going to shift because I have a feeling that Lydia’s next question will be to see it.” Before he could get to his bedroom Lydia was off the couch and yelling after him.

“Wait! Is it harder to control? Should you do that?”

“It’s fine.” Is all he says before he shoos her away from the open door.

* * *

It’s barely a minute later before Stiles can hear the click of nails tapping along the hard wood floor as Derek heads back to the den. Isaac and Scott get the first look and start laughing right before Erica is shouting  _Oh my God!_ and Allison is letting out that  _so-cute_! little squeal thing she does before something makes her change her mind and she scoots back a little. Then it’s in the room and Stiles can see. Not it,  _him._ He’s Derek. Stiles knows. But it’s still kind of difficult to equate Derek’s perfect, if a little broody, face and chiseled body with the thing trotting straight towards him. Not thing, wolf.

A big, black wolf.

A big black wolf that walks up to Stiles and licks his face before flopping down in the seat right next to him. Where Derek was just a couple minutes ago. As a human. Well not human, but you know.

He doesn’t understand what’s happening right away when Derek nudges his head against Stiles chest and whines. Still doesn’t understand what’s happening when Derek walks over to sit next to Lydia and kind of hides behind her while nudging her forward. Then she’s talking and it all kind of makes sense.

“Stiles, are you okay?” Because this is panic. He’s having, maybe not a panic attack yet but extreme anxiety and his heart is racing and he doesn’t know how many times his chest can fell like it’s about to burst in one night before it actually does. He nods quickly at her before putting his head on his knees and trying to take deep breaths. Derek lets out that whine again and Stiles feels bad about worrying him while at the same time it triggers his heart to keep up the overtime pace. It takes him a second before he can reach out his hand and Derek walks over to nuzzle it. Friggin’ nuzzle it because he’s a friggin’ wolf.

Suddenly Stiles is trying to remember where he put the dog bowl he gave to Scott because this was ridiculous. And he was okay again, because his life was such a joke. Scott had the right idea to laugh when he saw the wolf, because what the hell were their lives when stuff like this didn’t make them run for the door?

Stiles looks down at were Derek was still resting his head in his hand, probably afraid to move, and sees his eyes. Those same hazel eyes that were so human and so Derek, and it’s okay. Stiles laughs a little before ruffling the fur between Derek’s ears. “When your apparent life mate turns into a dog, you’re allowed a moment to freak out, stop looking at me like that. I’m fine. We’re good.” Derek huffs and backs up. “Wolf. Sorry, you’re a  _wolf_.” He answers and Derek bows his head like he’s nodding and goes back to sitting by his side.

“Can you understand him?” Lydia asks, looking skeptical but eyes still wide like it’s a possibility.

“Yeah Lyds, we have a psychic connection were Derek was chewing me out for calling him a dog.” Stiles rolls his eyes and Lydia just squints at him. “No. But his glare somehow still translates when covered in fur.” A low rumble came from that pile of fur next to him. “What?! It’s very pretty fur, shut up.”

Erica is giggling again. “Really pretty fur, what a pretty puppy Derek is!” She coos and Derek is legit growling now, baring teeth that are smaller than his usual fangs but somehow seem a lot scarier on an animal. “That’s right puppy, show me what big teeth you have!”

“Stop it.” Stiles is laughing, kind of nervous about poking Derek to show him that goes for both of them.

“Well, that was unexpected. I’d love to see the transformation sometime because, as much as none of this should be physically possible, this is really  _not physically possible_.” Lydia is saying, still staring. Derek just stares right back. “…are you going to change back?” Derek put his head in Stiles lap and yawns. That was kind of cute, and it seems Derek now has the trump card. If he can’t talk, Lydia can’t ask questions, right? “Derek, I only have a couple more questions, change back.” Derek picks up his head and opens his mouth, tongue hanging out. It kind of looks like he’s smiling and Stiles has to laugh because Derek knew exactly what he was doing. “Can you even understand me?” He did the wolfie nod thing again before putting his head back in Stiles lap. “Fine. I’ll just ask yes or no questions then.”

A resounding sigh went around the room. “Come on, it’s bed time.” Jackson grumbled into the pillow he stole from Stiles. Or, well, that Stiles threw at him and he hadn’t given back. Jerk.

“Just two more and then I’ll wait until I can get Derek alone in the morning.” Lydia said, ignoring the eye rolls and scribbling something else down. She looked right at Derek and smirked a little bit, oh no. Poor guy was going to get it. Stiles put a hand on the furry head and scratched behind an ear in moral support. “Do you go into heat?”

Groans could be heard from the male betas in the room as Scott and Boyd called a quits and laid down for bed, Erica just barked out a laugh. “Ha! Yeah he does and it reeks!” More groans went around and Derek tried to bury his head under the blanket. “What? What did you want me to say, it smells like family? Pfft. No. It smells like sex and I hope Stiles makes it stop!”

Scott shot back up with a horrified look on his face, “Oh god, what if he makes it worse?” Stiles couldn’t help but laugh at the mortified look on his best friends face. Derek got up and trotted out of the room, pausing on his way to growl at Erica and Lydia again.

“What? I was just being honest.”

“What do you mean smells like sex?” Lydia targeted Erica as her new prey since she seemed so open on the subject.

“I don’t know, he just smells good. Makes you want to jump on him.”

“Says the girl who shoved her tongue down his throat.” Stiles couldn’t help but throw out. He didn’t know where that came from. It’s not jealousy, he just had a make out session to die for and from the sounds of it, Erica barely got a peck. It better have been just a peck. Yeah, he was probably jealous.

“It was a diversion tactic!”

“And it won’t be happening again.” Derek says as he comes back in the room and Stiles does  _not_ gulp when he sees Derek who is only wearing sweat pants tug the blanket up so he can get under it with Stiles. Nope. Derek looks at him and smirks. Maybe there was a gulp, just a little one. “Your last question and then bed, Stiles and I need to talk.” And typically that was a fearful statement.  _We need to talk._  Those were I’m going to break up with you words, weren’t they? But Derek’s voice dipped down and it sounds like rocks scraping velvet and he gave him this look and Stiles had a feeling that maybe they wouldn’t actually be talking.

“Do you have a knot?”

Derek froze for a second before he cleared his throat. “You have probably noticed Jackson doesn’t.” Stiles tried not to laugh at the blush coloring the tops of Derek’s ears. Especially since he was pretty sure his own face had to be beet red.

“But you’re a born wolf.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“But you’re a  _wolf_ wolf.”

“Goodnight Lydia.” Derek stands up, grabs the blanket and his pillow and walks out of the room.

“See you at breakfast Derek.” Lydia calls before going to get her bag by the door.

“Come on Stiles.” Stiles doesn’t say anything as he scoops up the other pillows, thinking twice before taking Jackson’s, and runs after Derek. As exciting as  _not talking_ sounds, he has some questions of his own.

* * *

Derek put the bed back together and folded the sheets down before gesturing for Stiles to pick a side. When his mate crawls onto the bed, he has to shove his wolf’s desire down at the implications.

But that doesn’t take much effort once he notices Stiles sitting stiffly against the headboard, looking at his hands with an expression on his face like he’s between crying and running for the door.

“Stiles…” Derek starts, but he doesn’t really know what to say.

“Sorry, I’m fine. I don’t know what wrong with my anxiety today.”

“It’s probably the same thing that’s happening with my wolf. Your emotions might be harder to control over the next few days.”

“Great.”

“I’m sorry.” And he was. It made his stomach drop and heart ache to see Stiles so distressed. Even more so since his nervous reaction to the wolf form. He would stick to his word, if this wasn’t what Stiles wanted he would let him go, he had too. Even if having Stiles so close by would probably drive him insane or kill him. He wouldn’t be able to stand being the thing that made him so afraid.

“What? No. Don’t. It’s not you I just…”

Derek waited as long as he could before lowering himself to the bed and whispering, “What?”

“Did you like me? I mean, before everything tonight?” And that wasn’t what Derek was expecting at all. He thought Stiles was going to leave. Run away from the monster. Not feel insecure himself.

And Derek hated that he had to pause and think. Because he wanted to reassure him, wanted to tell him anything that would make him happy, make him stay, but he also needed to tell him the truth.

Stiles looked at him and then let out a shaky breath before moving to get off the bed. Derek grabbed his hand before he even thought to do so and Stiles just frowned down at where his hand was probably holding his mates a little too tightly. But he couldn’t let go. “I just want to know if you actually like me or if this is just  _biology_.” His wolf wanted to rip Lydia apart for even putting that idea in his head. He couldn’t pinpoint when this all started, and maybe biology did have a hand in it, but he was sure how he felt now.

“Yes.” Derek felt his breathing pick up and his eyes shift red, he couldn’t help it, because for the first time in a long time, he was scared. “I can’t tell you for how long, but it was before I became alpha, if that’s what you mean.” He wasn’t prepared for Stiles’ smile to come back with such force or the tears that were almost ready to fall that would have been his fault for not being good with words even though he talked with his pack tonight more than he probably had over the course of the month.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

And this Derek knew. Because even though Stiles drove him off the wall sometimes, and even though he apparently needed a Rosetta Stone for his own emotions, he knew Stiles had carved his way into his life and he would never be ready to let that go. “You’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had. My only friend since I moved back to California.”

Stiles laughed a little at that. “God, you’re such a loser.” He knows he’s frowning but that wasn’t exactly the reaction he was expecting to trying his best at expressing his emotions. “I say that with love.” And there’s that smile again. And _love_. Derek knows it’s just a turn of phrase, that Stiles probably didn’t even realize he said it, but it gave him hope. Even with the questions he could see dancing behind Stiles’ eyes.

“Go ahead, what else?”

“What was your anchor?” And that was another blow he wasn’t expecting. He did say they would talk about that later, but he thought that would be  _later_ , like maybe never. Still, when he met Stiles eyes and they were sad like he might have guessed what it was because of course he would he was smart, Derek felt like he owed his mate an explanation.

“Anger.”

“At… Kate?” Stiles asked and of course he would think that because as much as he had seen and been through Stiles was still so innocent and couldn’t understand all that goes into trusting someone so much and giving them all you have just so they can not only break that trust, but shatter it, burn the pieces to ash and then come back years later just to spit on the remains.

Derek could feel the fangs pricking his lips, knew his claws were digging into the bed and made himself let go of Stiles so he wouldn’t hurt him too. He closed his eyes, tried to focus on Stiles without touching him, his smell, the sound of his heart, but he was drowning in the anger.

He wouldn’t have felt the hands come to rest carefully on his shoulders if that comforting heat didn’t travel through him with the touch. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said her name.” He tensed even further and his heart broke a little more because he didn’t want to tell Stiles all this heavy crap, but how could he not when Stiles was blaming himself for Derek’s lack of control.

“Anger at myself.” He bit out through the fangs. Stiles hands stilled from where they had started kneading at his muscles before he sighed.

“Calm down.” Stiles breath was hot against his neck as he slid his hands from Derek’s shoulders to his chest. They rested there for a moment, feeling Derek’s heart rate start to slow as he took deep breaths and tried to reign in the hate that burned the blood in his veins and focused on Stiles warmth against his back, his forehead resting in Derek’s hair, the hands spreading a different kind of warmth through his chest.

When Stiles must have been satisfied that Derek’s heart rate was slowing down, he started moving his hands again. He added pressure, dug his thumbs in to tease out the tension pulling Derek’s muscles tight. When he could pull his claws back in and force his fangs away, Derek trusted himself to relax into his touch, leaning into the hands when they found a spot that needed particular attention after the stress of the night.

He blinked away the red and let his eyes slip closed as he cracked his neck. As he let his head rest back on Stiles shoulder, he parted his lips to breathe in deep and make himself truly let go and relax.

He tensed again for a moment, remembering the last time someone touched him like this, gave him this much attention and how his world had crashed down around her. But Stiles was shushing in his ear and Derek opened his eyes to blink at the red again and see the frown on Stiles face. He wasn’t some manipulative bitch trying to turn him on for intel. Stiles was trying to help, trying to get him to regain control and give him some comfort. “Lay down.” Stiles whispered. He was obviously thinking about something, but it wasn’t some viscous extermination plot, he was thinking of Derek.

Derek couldn’t help himself as he stretched his legs in front of him and rolled onto his stomach. Stiles hands kneaded over his shoulder blades, thumbs and the heels of his hands giving extra attention around his tattoo. They continued down his spine, giving each vertebra the same affectionate consideration. When he felt those thumbs trace back up the sides of his spine as fingers skated over his ribs, Derek’s breathing started to pick up again because, no, Stiles wasn’t Kate, trying to distract him with touch and sex for information but he was still distracting him with touch, getting him to relax more than he had in years and his body couldn’t help connecting the dots to sex. His wolf was stretching its back begging for more, and Derek couldn’t help follow suit and arch into Stiles hands.

When those long fingers dragged back over his ribs Derek sighed and carefully rolled over, making sure Stiles knew what he was doing and slowly opening his eyes to take in Stiles flushed face as his mate leaned over him. “Derek.” He said, his hands going back to rest on Derek’s ribs as his thumbs traced small circles into his skin with tentative touches. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Derek’s breath hitches as his mind is pulled back to the subject of his anger even while Stiles hands still dance over his skin. “Stiles, you don’t”

“No. Stop. Don’t tell me that I don’t know that. Because I do. You would have never let that happen if you could have possibly stopped it. Because it was your family and I know what family is, how important it is and how important it was to you. I know that every time you talk about pack. Every time you try to get us closer. Every time you try to keep us safe. I know that from watching you talk about your parents tonight and how you still stay in touch with Peter after everything that’s happened. I know because part of my family is gone too and, yeah, it’s different because she wasn’t murdered, but don’t you think I would have done something if I could have? I know because even though I couldn’t possibly have cured my mom I still feel guilty. But it’s not my fault, and it’s not yours.” Stiles rests their foreheads together and Derek can feel the tears drip from Stiles eyes to mix with the tears already on his cheeks.

“Guilty by association.” Derek grits out through grinding teeth, because he can’t help it. Because as much as he wants to believe Stiles, he’s wrong.

“That’s a heavy accusation. Did you have any idea, any inkling that she was planning to hurt your family?”

Derek gulped at the tone so similar to the Sheriff’s. “No. But I should have. I knew she was too good for me.”

“I don’t want to know what you must think of me if I rate below that psychopath.”

“No.” Derek is shaking his head and Stiles is laughing softly at how his head goes back and forth too with their foreheads still together. “Stiles. That’s not what I meant. You’re too good for me too.” Stiles presses a quick kiss to his cheek.

“That’s actually really cute but I think you’re little werewolf mate detector proved we are the exact appropriate amount of good for each other.” When Stiles pushes himself up and those hands start massaging down his chest to where his ribs meet his abs Derek can’t stop himself from humming in agreement. His eyes slide closed again as he arches up into the touch and breaths out a heavy sigh. He feels Stiles’ warmth shift over him from where it was beside him and Derek can’t help the wild beating of his heart.

Stiles runs his hands back over his chest, skimming his nipples in a way that has his lips parting again as his breath catches in his throat but continuing on to smooth down his arms until their palms meet and Stiles can lace their fingers together. Derek nearly gasps when Stiles leans forward again and stops with their mouths so close he can fell Stiles’ warm breath on his lips.

“One day we’ll both believe we’re worth it.” He whispers, leaning in closer and Derek can’t stop himself from tilting his head up and pressing a quick kiss to those lips.

When Stiles doesn’t move away, Derek kisses him again and stays. He sucks Stiles’ bottom lip into his mouth, bites down on it and runs his tongue over the indentations. Stiles tongue comes out to meet his and they lose all pretenses. Mouths open, tongues slide as they pant into each other and Stiles flexes their hands together before letting go and digging those fingers into Derek’s hair to just hold on. Derek grips the sheets, ignoring his claws coming back out and tearing them as Stiles moans into his mouth. Derek chases that sound as it sends sparks racing up his spine. He grinds his hips up, trying to pull more noises from Stiles when their teeth clash together and Derek gets laughter instead.

“Sorry.” Stiles chuckles as he carefully kisses around the fangs, slowing the pace back down until they’re hips are moving with each other in a teasing but more manageable friction and their mouths slide, suck and nibble but remain mostly chaste.

Stiles hums out another giggle and Derek knows he’s going to regret it when he asks, “What?”

Stiles mouth moves to press more kisses to his cheek and down his jaw before he slides his body back onto the bed and rest his head on Derek’s shoulder. “Do you have any crazy one night stand stories, like you’re making out and then whoops, fangs!” Stiles laughs into his neck. And Derek just huffs. Definitely regret. “Or in heat! God, that must be worse. How do you stay in control?”

“I don’t.” Stiles lifts himself up to stare down at Derek again and his brain kicks back into gear long enough to realize how that must sound. “I mean, I haven’t tried to be with anyone.” Stiles brows shoot up and he gestures for him to continue. Derek sighs again. “I didn’t want to bring in any omegas with the Argents here or any other packs with ours still so young. That and you were all I could ever smell. You drove me nuts. I should have figured this out a long time ago, it’s just…”

“Yeah, Gerard, kanimas, I get it.”

“Yeah.” Derek presses one more peck to his mate’s lips before he sits up to pull the covers over them and shut off the light. Stiles moves to his side again, wrapping on arm around his waist and resting his head on his chest. Derek relaxes, breathing deep as his mind drifts towards sleep. He thinks back on the long day, the long years and how it all seems okay now laying here like this. He should know better.

“You can’t get me pregnant, can you?”

Derek laughs so loud he wakes up the wolves in the next room and then laughs some more listening to their grumbled confusion at “ ** _What the hell? Is that Derek? Has he even ever laughed? Fucking Stiles_**.”

“No seriously, that’s not a thing is it? The internet is a weird place where this is possible.”

“No Stiles, I can’t” He hears Jackson groan and say “ ** _I don’t want to know what he can’t do._ ”**

“Is that a problem for you? Don’t you want to build up the pack?”

Derek sighs as he hears Jackson continue “ ** _Oh god, I think they’re talking about having kids_** _.”_ Scott whines. Derek just pulls Stiles closer. “I already have a pack.”

“ ** _I’m going to throw up_** _.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter edited on 11 January 2014.   
> Please bring any mistakes we missed to the comment box or thebadassisin.tumblr.com/ask  
> Thank you - WT


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last part of Lydia's list, but the TDD verse will continue (potentially Friday, but most likely Tues) with training session craziness, what happens when Derek and Stiles start really sharing emotions and coming out to the Sheriff DUN DUN DUN!  
> Hope you guys enjoy and continue with the series :D

Derek just blinks, he swears, but when his eyes open again it’s a few minutes after noon and he can smell coffee and hear Lydia shuffling around the kitchen. It’s so tempting to curl back into the warmth around him and the smell of home, but it’s his job to provide breakfast for the pack after the full moon. Especially since the betas sprung for pizza and snacks last night. It was nice of Lydia to start the coffee but he should have been the first one up to check on things and start the food. With one last deep breath, he untangles himself from Stiles and the sheets and goes to the kitchen.

He should have known Lydia wasn’t being nice so it doesn’t really surprise him when he sees that she didn’t brew a full pot and it’s all going into her designer thermos with the caramel flavored creamer he keeps in the fridge just for her. And maybe, just one time for him and Isaac. They were curious. He shakes his head and gets to work as quietly as possible as Lydia takes a seat at the counter. He hated when people watched him cook. He felt pressured and typically ended up breaking or burning something but Lydia didn’t seem to care as she watched his every step with that look that he came to recognize as her ‘I’m about to ask you something’ face. He figured he would beat her to it.

“If you’re going to break out another list, please just do it quietly.”

“You don’t want the others up yet?”

“No.”

“Fine with me, I rather ask you these in private anyway.” Derek took a moment to stop cracking eggs and raise a brow at her. “When is your next training session?”

“We’ve been having them twice a week since school ended.”

“But when? I want to sit in and Jackson won’t tell me.”

“Maybe that’s for a reason.”

“If he has enough control to go to school, he has enough control not to jump the sidelines during a training session.”

“I think he does. But being so out of control as a Kanima has made him…” Derek shrugs and begins beating the eggs. He didn’t know how to explain anything or if it was his place. He had a lot of talks with Jackson about control lately and he was surprised how well someone who started off as a snake was taking to being a wolf. But Jackson was scared he would lose control again to the point where the beta bottled everything up until the full moon and that could be twice as dangerous. One on one training sessions with Jackson had been less about control and fighting techniques like it was with the others and more about meditation and letting the wolf out to run. “different.”

“I want to come to the next one. I want to see what you do. Maybe I can help.”

Lydia’s face remained the calm mask of control she painted on each morning but her heart had started beating erratically. Derek didn’t think she was lying but he knew that this wasn’t the whole story. She was nervous about something and he wasn’t the type his betas went to when they needed help or a shoulder to cry on. Yet another reason he was lucky Stiles would be a more permanent part of his life. Maybe he would get to know his pack and their problems better without having to wipe away tears and offer awkward ‘it’ll be okays’. “I don’t have a problem with that. The next group session was Saturday but I’m going to move it to tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there.” She nodded her promise and sipped at her coffee. Derek had about one minute of blissful silence as he stirred the eggs around the pan and opened a package of bacon before Lydia was talking again, tone just as low as before thankfully. “Is there something like pepper spray for werewolves?”

“Why?”

“Just a quick defense that would incapacitate without causing permanent damage?”

“Again, why?” Derek pulled a loaf of bread out of a bag on the counter and pushed it towards Lydia. “If you can ask questions about incapacitating me, you can help.” Lydia played with the twist tie on the bag before answering.

“I just want to know the best way to protect myself without hurting Jackson or any of you in case something happens to make you lose control. Can’t a lady protect herself?”

Derek made a point of not speaking until the twist tie she was playing with was off the bag and she was moving to the chair closest to the toaster. “Things like pepper spray would work but for a very short time and you run the risk of the person being made more angry and being in less control of themselves by using something like that.”

“What about making some form of liquid wolfsbane?”

“No.” Derek caught her eye before continuing to be sure she understood. He kept his voice quiet and calm but he didn’t try to hold back the red from his eyes. This was an order and so help him if she tried it anyway. “Wolfsbane is too easily made deadly. You know how it can affect people, wolf or not, first hand. There will be no test trials for a wolfsbane spray with this pack and you will not risk permanent damage to one of us with something like that. Do you understand?”

She looked a bit disappointed at the thought of a lost experiment, one she might have already started, but nodded before giving him the plug for the toaster with a smirk as if to say she wasn’t afraid of the big bad alpha. Her heart wasn’t calm, but it hadn’t changed from the same nervous pattern it was carrying earlier so maybe that was true. Despite his best efforts, he really liked Lydia.

“Then, what do you suggest?”

Derek gestured the wire back at her before plugging it into the wall on his side of the counter. “Electricity. I’m sure Allison has an extra Taser you can borrow.” Derek went back to stirring the eggs, and what do you know, they had just started to burn. He hated people hovering in the kitchen. “I don’t have to warn you that it’s not a toy do I?” Lydia huffed before loading the toaster.

“What if I can’t get to a Taser?” Derek focused on moving the eggs to a plate and wrapping it in tin foil as he thought over her question. There was danger in saying too much, but possible danger for her if he didn’t say enough. And Stiles too. Maybe he should set up a day to teach Lydia and Stiles some defense skills. He wiped down the skillet and melted some butter in it before getting the instant pancake mix out of the fridge. “That’s what you use?”

“You ate them last week.” Lydia’s eyes widened at the realization and Derek had to try his best not to laugh in her face. “This isn’t a hotel. You try making enough to feed everyone after the full moon. I’m ready to eat that whole plate of eggs and leave you all to starve.” He added water and shook the bottle before listening to a rustle in the next room to make sure his betas were still asleep and started to pour the mix into little circles in the warm pan. His brain was still going round and round about the benefits of possibly starting private training sessions for Lydia and Stiles versus the risks of asking Chris and Allison to take them under their wing.

“I just want to know what grounds you. What’s something that can make you snap back if you’re getting out of control?” Lydia’s heart was still doing that nervous skip as she maintained her most professional interview voice when the idea hit him.

He carefully put the bottle down and slowly turned to her, keeping his voice as low as he could while making sure she could still hear. “Is Jackson having control issues around you?” His heart sank just to ask. Jackson was a young wolf, this was expected, but he had let him stay unrestrained last night. He let him go to school and lacrosse games last month. He had trusted him not to hurt others. Had been proud of him for overcoming the pain and manipulation of his recent past and the lost feelings related to not knowing his birth parents and having such amazing control despite it all. Even if he was going about it in a way that Derek was carefully monitoring. How could he miss this?

Lydia covered her face in her hands but still let a small noise escape and her shoulders start to shake. Derek wasn’t sure what to do. Stay with her or wake Jackson for the beating of his life. He was wiping pancake batter off his hands in preparation for what would surely be an awkward hug when Lydia leaned back and wiped her eyes, a huge smile on her face.

“Stop giving me that look! God.” She let a few delicate giggles loose. Derek simultaneously felt a bit embarrassed, this was why people didn’t talk to him, and over whelmed with relief. “The day he comes yelping to you with a lacrosse stick up his ass is when you know he did something unforgivable. Werewolf or not, he would never get away with hurting me again and he knows it.”

Derek shook his head at the girl that continued to surprise him with her intelligence and strength and barely had enough time to save the first batch of pancakes. “Everyone has something different. There is no universal anchor. But I am going to try to set up secondary ones tomorrow that I’m sure you’ll hear all about. Almost everyone thinks of a relationship.” That wasn’t really true. Some of his betas used an emotion tied to a past or present relationship to ground them. He knew Jackson told Lydia about his Kanima and how almost killing a pregnant woman was his anchor, but Derek wasn’t about to be the one to tell Lydia that Jackson also had a lock of her hair in his wallet he used on a bad day. This was how he knew helping his betas to set up secondary anchors would work – Jackson had five.

Lydia finished toasting the last of the bread while Derek started another batch of pancakes and eyed the bacon he still had to cook. That would surely be the betas’ alarm clock. He let his mind wander to Stiles instead. He should wake him before he starts the bacon to make sure he gets first choice of the food. Or maybe he could bring him breakfast in bed. He didn’t have it in him to be embarrassed as Lydia took in whatever expression he was making and smirked again.

“Speaking of relationships, we focused on Stiles so much last night because of your temper, but I’ve been thinking. How does it affect you?” Derek got some fruit from the fridge and passed her a strainer and a bowl. A busy Lydia was a better Lydia.

“We did talk about that last night. I’ll feel compelled to take his side or do what he wants. But I’ve been saying no to Stiles for a while now so I think it’s more that I will want to make him happy and not be enslaved to follow his every whim, which is a blessing because it’s Stiles.” Derek knows he’s grinning at the pancakes he’s flipping and he doesn’t even care. He doesn’t think he would mind being enslaved to Stiles. Suddenly he’s remembering the back of the police cruiser a little too vividly. Maybe how things are now were for the best. Equal partnership, the ability to challenge and say no but the urge to submit and end an argument. There would be a lot of compromises ahead, he was sure, but if it meant he could stay this happy and that Stiles could feel this too, then he was on board. “We’ll be more aware of each other, it’s possible that we’ll be able to feel each other’s emotions. That may have played a part in my lack of control last night because we were both nervous and being questioned.” For her part, Lydia continued to wash fruit and nod her head while maintaining the picture of innocence at the accusation. “I might be able to help him heal faster, but I’m not positive so don’t tell him or he’ll be less careful on purpose. Other than that, I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“But that’s not really what I meant. That’s how it affects you both and what you can do for Stiles. What does this do for you?”

Derek plates the last of the pancakes and waits to put the bacon on, sizing Lydia up and deciding if he should say anything. “I don’t have to be alone anymore.” Lydia gives him a fond smile like he passed a secret test and passes him the strainer of dripping fruit, taking a grape for herself before going back to her seat and looking serious again.

“You said Stiles had a choice…” She started. If she continued to dance in the personal territory, the bacon was never going to be cooked and the rest of the food would get cold. He eyed the meat again, debating whether to risk it.

“Yes…”

“What would happen if you broke up?”

Derek could feel his whole body sag at the idea. He would give Stiles the choice. He wouldn’t trap his mate here if this wasn’t what he wanted. He couldn’t. But that didn’t mean it wouldn’t kill him.

“I would do my best to keep him around, but if he left I wouldn’t last very long on my own.”

“What do you mean?”

“Once you realize that kind of happiness and have it taken away, to not even be able to maintain a friendship or pack relationship, my wolf would go mad. I’d end up like Peter and I…” Derek didn’t want to think about what he would have to do, if he would be strong enough to do it, but then something was calling his wolf’s attention and letting it know Stiles had woken up and was afraid. He tried to convince himself that maybe he was just confused about being in Derek’s bed or why Derek wasn’t there. Maybe they could share emotions already. If that was the case he needed to calm down. Derek took a deep breath and went back to finishing the pancakes. “Stiles is awake.”

Stiles awoke to a very warm body and one very cold foot. But that wasn’t what woke him. He pulled his leg back into the miracle cocoon that was little to do with the cheap sheets and all about the fluffy cloud of warmth that was Derek’s stolen bed spread. Something was sinking in his stomach, messing with his comfort and what was a very pleasant dream about how last night could have gone if he had asked less stupid questions and done more kissing. Derek. Right. They were a thing now. Mates. He didn’t even know how to process that. How a little, maybe not so little, crush could turn into full blow teen romance novel in one night. Especially on a full moon, with all of their friends there to laugh and make fun and quiz. Ugh, they probably heard him and Derek making out before they went to bed. Breakfast was going to be fantastic.

That’s probably all this nervous, anxious, feeling of absolute dread was. The world wasn’t ending, Stiles moved the sheets down far enough so that he could check a monster wasn’t there and the apocalypse hadn’t crashed through the bedroom wall. He saw the clock on Derek’s night stand. It was almost one. Breakfast, lunch, whatever. It was probably just the anticipation of more teasing mixed with the heightened anxiety Derek was talking about that he was feeling. Fun times. He waited until both his feet were warm again before stretching and leaving the bed. He debated taking the blankets to the bathroom with him, but he didn’t think Derek would appreciate that very much.

Stiles stuck his head into the hall to see if the others were awake yet and ready to pounce on him. He could hear Derek moving things around in the kitchen and what sounded like Lydia whispering but nobody else. That had the weight in his stomach lifted enough for it to grumble a little so he went across the hall to brush his teeth and use the bathroom.

By the time he was done and heading to the kitchen, he felt much lighter. Like the panic attack waiting in the wings for when he woke up had given up and decided to let him have a good day. That was until he got close enough to hear what Lydia and Derek were talking about.

“I’d give you the shotgun speech but I’m fairly certain you’ll get it from Scott before breakfast is done and from the Sheriff later.” Stiles froze in the hallway and waited for someone to say something because crap.

His dad!

What was he going to do? Walk up to him and say hey dad! 1. You know how you said I couldn’t be gay, well that’s not entirely correct. 2. He’s not an ex-con because he wasn’t convicted and it was all my fault you arrested him in the first place because 3. he’s a werewolf and at the time I was scared but he’s good now? Yeah. That was going to go over great.

“You are going to tell the sheriff aren’t you?” It’s like she was reading his mind. Maybe she was reading Derek’s, “About everything? Don’t make Stiles keep that secret anymore. His dad deserves to know, especially if you are going to take his son away from him. I’m honestly surprised you haven’t said anything sooner.”

Yeah, yeah, Stiles has given himself that guilt trip a million times, he didn’t need it vicariously through Derek or from Lydia.

“A sheriff on your side would be an asset with all the gore in this town. You could even use the front door.”

But she did have a point.

“And don’t you think he might notice changes in his son that can’t be chalked up to being a teenager?”

Like what? They had just talked about this last night! It’s not like he was going to sprout fur and fangs. Stiles continued down the hall into the kitchen to see Derek frozen where he was about to put bacon in the skillet and looking a little pale. Probably why he hadn’t said anything through Lydia’s whole speech. Stiles could take care of that, because he was pretty sure they were thinking the same thing.

“Oh god. We have to tell my dad.” He shouted. There was rustling and groaning in the next room as the rest of the pack woke up. Derek managed to roll his eyes and drop the bacon in the skillet but was apparently still speechless as he nodded, eyes a little wide and Stiles was so going to make fun of that later.

For now, Stiles started the coffee and grabbed himself a plate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter edited on 11 January 2014.   
> Please bring any mistakes we missed to the comment box or thebadassisin.tumblr.com/ask  
> Thank you - WT

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: The Sheraton has amazingly fluffy comfortable bed spreads and if I were as tough looking as Derek, I would have taken one. I think about that blanket often. 3


End file.
